Transportation equipment



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Patented Sept. Z9, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFic'E 2,055,779 TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT George W. Wilmot, Scranton, Pa:l I Application May 6, 1953, serial No. 669,753 1 claim. v(o1. 105-=366I rhis invention relates to improvements in transportation equipment and pertains particularly to a structure which may be transferred from one type of carrier to another.

In the shipping of freight from one point to another the material has to handled a. goed many times as Vit is transferred fromV trucks to trains and then back again from the trains to other trucks to be hauled to the receiver. This constant handling of the goods or merchandise frequently results in the damaging of the containers and consequently of the contents and is particularly injurious to perishable commodities.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved mechanism whereby the units in which merchandise is placed by a sender and kept until delivered to the receiver, may be rmly secured in, or to, a transporting structure such as a railway car, motor car, ship or air vessel, so that the units can not be moved and the contents thereof will be kept safe.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel means for effecting the locking or fastening of the merchandise containing units on the structures by which they are carried in which the units will be firmly secured against any movement in a horizontal plane as well as against vertical or lifting movement from the structure.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the inventionasexpressed in the appended claim.

In the drawing:-

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the body portion of a car truck showing two units mounted thereon and secured by the locking means embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of one end of a connected unit beam and chassis cross bar by which the units are coupled with the carrier body;

Figure 3 is a view in perspective of the yoke portion of a unit carried beam which couples with a chassis cross bar;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the yoke taken substantially upon the line Ill- I of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a View in perspective of one end of a chassis cross bar with which the yoke member of Figure 9 engages.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing wherein like numerals yof reference indicate corresponding. parts throughout` the several views, the numeral I indicates generallythe chassis of a unit carrier which ...in the present. case is illus- '"5v trated as a railway. fla'tcar. `,It is, of course, to be understood that'tliis is merely an illustration of a type of carrier or chassis and may represent the body of a truck, the deck or other suitable supporting structure of a ship or a supporting struc- 10 ture in an air vessel.

The chassis I has mounted thereon a series of spaced parallel bars each of which is indicated by the numeral 2. Each of these bars 2 has each end turned at right angles to form the upstanding tongue 3, the inner corner of which is beveled olf as indicated at 4 to facilitate its ready insertion into the receiving yoke hereinafter described.

The outer face of each tongue 3 is provided with the transverse semi-circular groove or channel 5 for the reception of a locking pin.

The numeral 6 indicates a merchandise carrying unit. This unit is here illustrated as being in the form of an open receptacle having apertured ears I by which it may be readily picked up by a crane and transferred from one carrier chassis to another. It is, however, to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the use of open receptacles of the character here shown as it will be readily apparent, as the description of the invention proceeds, that closed units may be employed, having Wall doors, similar to a box car body.

The merchandise units, of which those indicated by the numeral 6 represent a type, have secured transversely of their bottoms, beams 8 which are preferably of the type known as I beams, having a vertical web portion and the top and bottom plates I0.

Each of the beams 8 has each end secured between the spaced parallel `extensions II of a yoke unit which is indicated as a whole by the numeral I2. These legs or extensions II of the yoke unit form an integral part of one side of an elongated rectangular collar having the outer wall I3, the centrally divided inner Wall I4, from which the extensions II project, and the connecting end walls I5. The extensions II of the yoke unit engage the opposite sides of the web portion 9 of a beam and the plates I Il of the beam overlie the top and bottom edges of these eX- tensions as illustrated in Figure 8. The ends of the beams 8 terminate flush with the inner face of the walls I4 of the yoke head or collar to which they are attached.

Oscillatably mounted in a semi-circular recess or channel I6 formed across the inner face of the wall I3 of each yoke collar, is a semi-cylindrical locking key or bar I1, one end of which extends through an end wall I5 as shown in Figure 3 and is turned to form the actuating handle I8 by means of which the locking pin is rotated.

From the foregoing it is believed to be appar- Y ent that the beams 8 secured to the under side of a carrier unit will be spaced apart the same distance as the securing bars 2 carried by the chassis so that when the unit is lowered onto the chassis the tongues 3 of the bars 2 will enter lthe yokes of correspondingly positioned beams upon the unit as illustrated in Figure 2. Thegrooves 5 of each of the bar tongues will then be positioned adjacent the groove I6 in the yoke with which it is in engagement and by then giving the locking pin I1 a quarter turn the yoke and tongue will be securely fastened together.

Any suitable means may then be employed for retaining the locking pins in this position to prevent unauthorized movement thereof and removal of the unit from the chassis.

While in Figure 1 two units have been shown as mounted upon one chassis it will, of course,

be understood that a single unit or more than two units may be employed, if desired.

From the foregoing it will be seen that merchandise may be readily and safely transported directly from the shipper to the receiver in the actual car or truck bodies and that the units or bodies may be securely fastened upon the carrier and will be held against accidental removal by the locking means described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:-

Means for coupling a receptacle to a support, comprising a bar secured to the support and having a portion of each end up-turned and provided with a groove extending transversely thereof, a beam secured to the receptacle to be located parallel with said bar between said end portions when the receptacle is on the support, a substantially T-shaped head at each end of said beam having the shank thereof longitudinally divided to receive the beam end and having the transverse portion slotted to receive an upturned end of the bar, and rotatable means in the said slot of the transverse portion of each T-head for engagement in the groove of an inserted bar portion.

GEORGE W. WILMOT. 

